Secularism a compelling necessity for India: Sonia
18 Nov 2014 5:36 AM IST
Mamata Banerjee from Trinamool Congress, Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury from CPI-M, former prime minister and JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav, CPI’s D Raja, NCP general secretary DP Tripathi attended the conference organised by Congress on the 125th birth anniversary of Nehru.
However, representatives of SP, BSP, DMK, NC and PDP RPT PDP were not present. Though RJD leader Lalu Yadav was not present, party MP Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav was present at the conference.
In her opening remarks, the Congress president said the whisper of knowledge about Nehru’s life and work has weakened in recent years in the country, ‘drowned out by misrepresentation and distortion’.
Holding that secularism, a state neutral in matters of religion, respecting all faiths equally was an article of faith for Nehru, Gandhi said, ‘...There could be no Indianness, no India, without secularism. Secularism was, and remains, more than an ideal, It is a compelling necessity for a country as diverse as India.’
She also said that Nehru’s belief that only Parliamentary democracy and a secular state could hold the country together in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-linguistic and multi-regional society, has been proved right. The Jawaharlal Nehru Commemorative International Conference is the first major event organised by the party after its worst-eve drubbing in Lok Sabha polls. While the Left parties, which supported UPA I government led by Cong had parted ways from it in 2008 on the Indo-US nuclear deal issue, Mamata Banerjee’s party had left the UPA II in September 2012. This is the first Congress event since then which is being attended by Banerjee as well as the Left parties.
Congress has not invited prime minister Narendra Modi or any other BJP leader for the conference. Holding that Nehru’s achievements were not only for the past and continue to bear fruit, the Congress president said the conference is ‘not only a commemoration of his 125th birth anniversary, it is an opportunity to reassert the relevance, durability and indispensability of his legacy.
However, representatives of SP, BSP, DMK, NC and PDP RPT PDP were not present. Though RJD leader Lalu Yadav was not present, party MP Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav was present at the conference.
In her opening remarks, the Congress president said the whisper of knowledge about Nehru’s life and work has weakened in recent years in the country, ‘drowned out by misrepresentation and distortion’.
Holding that secularism, a state neutral in matters of religion, respecting all faiths equally was an article of faith for Nehru, Gandhi said, ‘...There could be no Indianness, no India, without secularism. Secularism was, and remains, more than an ideal, It is a compelling necessity for a country as diverse as India.’
She also said that Nehru’s belief that only Parliamentary democracy and a secular state could hold the country together in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-linguistic and multi-regional society, has been proved right. The Jawaharlal Nehru Commemorative International Conference is the first major event organised by the party after its worst-eve drubbing in Lok Sabha polls. While the Left parties, which supported UPA I government led by Cong had parted ways from it in 2008 on the Indo-US nuclear deal issue, Mamata Banerjee’s party had left the UPA II in September 2012. This is the first Congress event since then which is being attended by Banerjee as well as the Left parties.
Congress has not invited prime minister Narendra Modi or any other BJP leader for the conference. Holding that Nehru’s achievements were not only for the past and continue to bear fruit, the Congress president said the conference is ‘not only a commemoration of his 125th birth anniversary, it is an opportunity to reassert the relevance, durability and indispensability of his legacy.
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